Luxury Brands Short Hystory

Nevertheless, ever since the beginning of civilization, luxury goods and services played an important role in various societies. At the beginning played the role of a divider of social classes. As a matter of fact, Luxury was synonyms for Wealth for centuries. Of course, almost all European Kings, Chinese Emperors, Aristocrats, and even ruthless dictators welcomed and owned luxury goods.

Although, beginning with the industrial revolution in the 18thcentury, artists and craftsmen were slowly being replaced by mass production machines. As an example, these machines made possible the creation of Louis Vuitton, one of the oldest fashion brand in the world.

As a result, the 20th century expanded the idea of luxury goods even further. Thus, brands opened their doors to customers across the entire world. Branded stores, coupled with Branded Premium Goods, made luxury products available also for the middle class. For this reason, more people enjoyed more premium brands as demand increased and standards of living improved.

Brands such as Hermes, Chanel, Dior, Armani, Cartier, and Versace were constantly in the spotlight towards the end of the century. Primarily due to numerous celebrity-endorsed promotions at glamorous and heavily-mediated events. This period also marked the consolidation of capital and strengthening of investor ties. Moreover, during this period, Luxury Brands began adopting new strategies for diversifying their products towards mass-consumption.

Innovation

Innovation is the critical driver of economic and societal growth. Through innovation, Luxury Brands extended. New products were invented. There were created entirely new industries for solving even more of the most intractable of problems.

“Innovation is one of only two ways that a business can create a customer” – as Peter Druker pointed out.

Therefore, it turns out Jack Matson’s truth that each business must “innovate or die.”

As a result of this kind of thinking, every leading brand should commit to continuous innovation. Otherwise, their business risks creating a future where their brand will decline, decay and ultimately disappear from the market. As an illustration, we should consider the many examples of brands that were once held in such high esteem that no one ever thought they could fail like Kodak, Pan Am, or Toys “R” Us, just to name some of them.

At the same time, the need to innovate is particularly important with luxury brands. That happened because of the chaotic cycle of trends, the general fickleness of customers, and the dynamic global competitive frame for unique high-end luxury products. The latest state of the luxury industry study surveyed over 600 industry leaders. They identified innovation as a critical business priority for the future. So, with that in mind, here are three ways that luxury brands can innovate.

What Does Luxury mean ?

Luxury can be defined by several factors. It is marked by the quality of the material and the standard of the finish. It can also evolve into a lifestyle statement. Luxury fashion brands have enjoyed decades, if not centuries, of dressing the richest clientele. Of course, Luxury Brands stands for a long time at the forefront of design, taste, and style. Traditionally, Luxury Brands dictated the next season’s trends. Today, as Yesterday also, they lead the way when it comes to fashion as an art form, rather than something solely meant to “cover the skin.”

The world of luxury, however, is changing.

People from across the globe expose more and more their concerns about environmental protection. Their main concerns are the ethical treatment of animals and the conservation of natural resources. Considering the sustainable development goals embodied in the recent Paris Accord, more people demands from businesses to assure the consumers that their clothing and accessories do not harm the environment or society. Of course, they include the actions of any of their trading partners up and down the supply chain. For luxury brands, this dilemma is magnified. When people pay more, they expect their clothes to be created to the utmost quality at every single stage of production. Today’s socially-conscious luxury customer expects not just the highest quality, They expect also for the brand to adhere to the highest standards set for sustainability around the world.

In fact, according to some researches, the fashion industry position itself as the second most polluting industry on the planet. But, the luxury fashion industry is at the forefront. Many Luxury Brands have a long way to go for demonstrating innovation around the sustainability of their production processes. Moreover, it has to demonstrate also its full transparency up and down their supply chain. However, there are transformative and innovative leaders emerging in the industry.

Luxury Brands Industry is Changing?

As a matter of fact, YES. Over the past several years, many Luxury Brands adopted stronger environmental and social practices prompted by a strong business case and stakeholder demands. Luxury brands invest massively in sustainability in order to protect their high-quality raw materials from climate change also. Moreover, many Luxury Brands respect more and more their client expectations about social and labor practices. Not to mention that they support community and cultural life alongside almost their clients.

For example, according to Jerome Schehr, CFO of the Shangri-La Hotel Paris – “Luxury Brands now have to be respected and respectable if they want to be desirable in the eyes of their customer.” From this perspective, companies will gain customers respectability by adopting a robust and coherent sustainability approach.

More and more Luxury Brands adopts strong environmental and also social practices. This is Sustainability! A new Nelly Rodi/IFOP study highly recommends to all the businesses to improve their desirability by activating certain levers like proximity and taking a stand. Proximity is about how a brand positions itself from one of distant authority to one that facilitates sharing and interaction.